Bearing



y 26, 1953 c. TRYON 2,639,955

BEARING Filed Jan. 15, 1949 I nventor H e-n'y/ .TTZO]? attorneys Patented May 26, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic-E BEARING Henry Christopher 'l' ryon, London, England, as signer to D1- Napier & Son Limite'd', London, England, a. company of Great Brita-in Application'lanuaryls, 1949; Serial'No. 70,691 In Great Britain January 28', 1948 v 1; This invention relates to bearings and: more particularly but not exclusively; to-the bearing between a connecting rod. anda crank pin, and hasfor its object to provide a simple method of arranging and mounting a; lining in the member which bears on the rotating part.

According to the present invention a bearing comprises in combination a member which: surrounds or partially surrounds a rotating part and which has a concave recess which extends in the axial direction rightacross it, the recess in the circumferential direction extending over an arc which subten'ds lessthan 180 and a thin walled inherently flexible curved strip of hard metal having a bearing metall face which is a direct force fit. in the recess between a pair of abutments which extend in-the axial direction at the endsofthe recess.

Thus the bearing strip is in circumferentialcompression and is bedded firmly in the bearing housing over substantially the-whole" of its length.

The term direct force fit is used" herein to mean that the bearing strip is a force fit between the abutmen'ts with its" ends-in direct contact with these abutments, no key or wedge being in' terposed-z between thebearing strip and either of these abutments.

The invention should therefore not be confused with arrangements in which a substantially semicylindrical bearing brass is held in place in a housing. by means of a wedge which is driven into a tapered space between one end. of the bearing brass and an abutment in the housing.

The bearing strip may be inserted by pressing it into the recess in the axial direction from one side; Alternatively it'may be inserted by heating the member which includes therecess soasto expand it; inserting the bearing strip, and allowing the member to cool and so grip the bearing strip between the abutments, or conversely the bearing strip may be cooled before insertion and then allowed to expand when in: place.

The surface of the member which includes the recess for the bearing strip may have an integral inwardly projecting and axially extending rib at each end of the recess to constitute the abutments for the ends of the bearing strip and between which the bearing strip is a force fit.

In an alternative arrangement the concave surface of the member which is to form the base of the recess for the bearing strip is machined all over to a uniform radius and includes an axially extending undercut groove adjacent to each end of the bearing strip, while inserted into each groove there is a member shaped to engage tonnes. (o1. cos-237 2 the undercut and of which a part stand'sproudof the concave surface to constitute an abutment for theadjacent end of the bearing strip.

The abutments which define the ends of the 1 recess and between which the bearing strip is pressed may be slightly inclined to each other; converging in the direction of insertion of the bearing strip, so that the bearing strip fitsthe recess with increasing tightness as its insertion proceeds.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, but one particular form" of bearing intended more particularly for use in a" connecting rod of an opposed piston two stroke internalcombustion engine, and a modification thereof, will be described by way of example with refer ence to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an: end elevation of a bearing momher with a'thin walled bearing strip in place,

Figure 2 is a transverse section onthe line iii-11 in Figure 1, and I Figure 3'is a fragmentary transverse section of the modified. construction.

In the construction of bearing shown in the drawing the bearing surface is provided by a thin-walled. bearing strip I l] which extends in a circumferential:direction over an arc of between to The bearing strip is of lmownconstruction and consists; for example, of a steel strip plated with a. thin layer of a suitable bear in'g metal.

The bearing. strip is: carried in a corresponding concave recess H in a bearing member I 2. The ends I3 of the bearing. member l zare radial and subtend an angle of approximately Adjacent. to eachend [13 of the bearing member 12 there' is formed: an undercut recess Hi which has a radial end face to provide an abutment 5 for one end-of the bearing strip I 0. If prefer-red the surfaces forming the abutment's; l5 may be slightly undercut.

The bearingstrip i0 is a forcefit the recess II, and may be inserted bypressing? it into the recess in the axial direction, that is either from the left or from the right as viewed in Figure 1. Alternatively the bearing strip l0 may be inserted by heating the bearing member 12 before the bearing strip is introduced into the recess and then allowing it to cool and so grip the bearing strip between the abutments, or conversely the bearing strip [0 may be cooled before it is introduced into the recess and then allowed to regain its normal temperature and so expand and firmly engage the abutments. When the bearing is central as shown in Figure 1 a locating tab [6 of the bearing strip in is pressed down into a machined recess [1 in the bearing member I2 so as to locate the bearing strip It] in the axial direction.

The abutments [5 may be slightly inclined to one another so that they converge in the direction of insertion of the bearing strip in order that the latter will fit more tightly as it approaches its central position in the bearing member I2.

The bearing is provided with lubricating grooves and apertures l8, l5 and which may be of any convenient configuration, depending on the lubricating system employed.

In an alternative construction shown in Figure 3, the whole of the concave surface 2| of the bearing member 22 is machined to a uniform radius, and in order to define the recess for receiving the bearing strip 23, axially extending undercut semi-dovetail grooves are formed at each end of the bearing member in each of which is inserted a semi-dovetail member 24 whereof a part stands proud of the surface 2| as shown to act as the abutment for the bearing strip.

The amount by which the tops of the abutments project above the base of the concave recess, and the thickness of the bearing strip, are selected so that the concave bearing surface of the strip will project slightly in the inward radial direction beyond the tops of the abutments.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A bearing for supporting a rotating part in a member which at least partly surrounds said rotating part, said bearing comprising a concave recess in said member which extends in the axial direction right across said member and in the circumferential direction over an are which subtends less than 180, abutments extending in the axial direction at each end of said recess, and a thin walled inherently flexible curved strip of hard metal having a bearing metal face which is a direct force fit in said recess between said abutments, and is rigidly supported by said memher.

2. A bearing for supporting a rotating part in a member which at least partly surrounds said rotating part, said bearing comprising a concave recess in said member which extends in the axial direction right across said member and in the circumferential direction over an arc which subtends less than 180, inwardly projecting abutments integral with said member and extending in the axial direction at each end of said recess, and a thin Walled inherently flexible curved strip of hard metal having a bearing metal face which is a direct force fit in said recess between said abutments, and is rigidly supported by said memher.

3. A bearing as claimed in claim 2, in which the abutments are slightly inclined to each other, converging in the direction of insertion of the bearing strip, and the cooperating ends of said bearing strip are correspondingly inclined.

4. A hearing for supporting a rotating part in a member which at least partly surrounds said rotating part, said bearing comprising a concave surface in said member which extends in the axial direction right across said member and in the circumferential direction over an arc which subtends less than 180 and which is machined all over to a uniform radius, axially extending undercut grooves adjacent to the ends of said concave surface, elements shaped to engage the undercuts inserted into said grooves, portions of said elements which stand proud of the machined concave surface to constitute abutments, and a thin walled inherently flexible curved strip of hard metal having a bearing metal face which is a direct force fit between said abutments, and

is rigidly supported by said member.

5. A hearing as claimed in claim 4, in which the abutments are slightly inclined to each other, converging in the direction of insertion of the bearing strip, and the cooperating ends of said bearing strip are correspondingly inclined.

6. A bearing for supporting a rotating member comprising a supporting member which surrounds a substantial part of the space occupied by said rotating member, said supporting member having a part-cylindrical concave surface of less than in are extending across it in the axial direction, axially extending abutments at the circumferential ends of said concave surface projecting inwards thereof in a generally radial direction, and a thin walled inherently flexible curved metal strip having a concave face of bearing metal and a convex supporting body of hard metal conforming to said concave surface, said curved metal strip being rigidly supported by said concave surface with its marginal edges frictionally secured between said abutments and with its concave bearing metal face projecting inwardly beyond said abutments.

7. A bearing as set forth in claim 6 wherein the axially extending abutments make a slight angle from the parallel whereby said strip of bearing metal may be forced in the axial direction to a firm engagement there between for securing said strip throughout its bearing area in direct bearing contact with said concave surface.

HENRY CHRISTOPHER TRYON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 864,663 Markel Aug. 27, 1907 935,022 Heron Sept. 28, 1909 1,121,904 Doehler Dec. 22, 1914 1,746,129 Robinson Feb. 4, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 558,408 Germany Sept. 7, 1932 885,825 France June 15, 1943 

